Thursday, September 18, 2008

Living in Florence :: Impressionismo a Palazzo Strozzi

Today my girlfriend and I visited Palazzo Strozzi's current mostra (exhibition), Impressionismo: dipingere la luce (Impressionists: Painting Light). I have been impressed with all the mostre that I've attended at Palazzo Strozzi, so when a new one arrives I usually plan a visit as soon as I can. After going to two mostre, I've understood that the Palazzo Strozzi is not only successful in presenting the artwork, but also in communicating intriguing information about it.

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Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Living in Florence :: Biblioteca delle Oblate

Today I finally made it to the Biblioteca delle Oblate. A friend of mine wanted to show me the biblioteca (library) because I hadn't yet been. She raved to me about it, which only made me want to go even more. This morning we met up at a bar to have a caffè (coffee) and walked to the biblioteca together under the sunny, but cloudy sky.

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Sunday, September 14, 2008

After my pranzo (lunch) with my suoceri (in-laws), it was time for the Fiorentina to play their Sunday partita (game). Two friends of my suocero (father-in-law) came over to watch it with us. I sat at the end of the (couch) with my suocero and his friends while Alessandro sat on a chair next to me. His mother stayed in the cucina (kitchen) to watch something else.

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Friday, September 12, 2008

This morning was like any other morning this week: a bright sun high above a clear, blue sky accompanied by heavy, humid air. I had to shut my windows earlier this afternoon because of the heat wafting in from the outside. At around 5pm, I saw grey clouds looming behind the hills of the city. A bolt of lightning struck behind the low hills in San Niccolò that caught my eye. And shortly after, it began to rain. When I opened the window again, the temperatures had dropped many degrees. I had to shut the window immediately because it was cold.

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Wednesday, September 10, 2008

For the past few days, I've been flipping through the Firenze Spettacolo looking for a new class to take. September is the month when everything seems to start up again, and somehow it feels inspiring to me to do something new. Alessandro and I feel like doing something new. We've talked about taking classes in Tai Chi, Kung Fu, Karate, Tae Kwon Do, or Jujitsu.

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Monday, September 8, 2008

It's September and even though the temperatures are still high, autunno (fall) is officially here. It's sad to see the end of estate (summer) during which I enjoyed quieter streets and neighborhoods, but I'm happy for the change. My favorite place to see the change of seasons is in the food that's available. Now that estate is gone, I'll miss the cocomero (watermelon) and fiori di zucca (zucchini flowers).

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Sunday, September 7, 2008

Living in Florence :: Festa della Rificolona

My friend Lisa had mentioned the Festa della Rificolona to me at least a week ago, but I didn't think I'd attend because I knew it was mostly for children. When I went to meet up with my friend Stef, who used to live here, at a parco (park) near Piazza Libertà today, I didn't think I'd be going to the Rificolona. We were joined by her friend and her friend's daughter for dinner near the Duomo and I accompanied them to Piazza Santissima Annunziata.

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Saturday, September 6, 2008

After being away from Florence a few days, I wanted to walk around to a few of my favorite places to say hello to my beloved city. Because I was so exhausted from our trip and had work to catch up on, I planned a passeggiata (stroll) around the centro storico (historical center) in my head and couldn't wait for today when I could finally go out. I have been peering out the window at the brownish Arno river for a few days while I gathered strength for today's passeggiata.

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Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Living in Florence :: Campo Imperatore

On our way back to Florence, we decided to drive up to Campo Imperatore, which is at an altitude of about 2100 meters. All along the two-lane highway that leads up to the Campo Imperatore we saw cavalli (horses) and mucche (cows) grazing. There were very few cars driving down the road, but when we arrived up at the stazione sciistica (ski resort), there were a few cars, motorcycles and a bus.

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Monday, September 1, 2008

Living in Florence :: Alba Adriatica

It's been at least seven years since I've been to the mare (seaside) in Italy to go to bagnarmi (go swimming). I was happy when Alessandro stopped the car in Alba Adriatica because I have also never been to the Eastern coast of Italy. We drove over 1200 kilometers the past three days straight, so it was relaxing to finally pick a place to stay two nights.

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Saturday, August 30, 2008

Living in Florence :: From Lecce to Alberobello

When I woke up this morning, I had no idea that I'd be sleeping in a trullo. We haven't made any plans for our trip and have called hotels a few hours before arriving after finding one on-line. We walked around Lecce for a few hours after we had our breakfast on a terrazza (terrace) in the Piazza Sant'Oronzo where the anfiteatro romano (Roman amphitheater) is located.

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Friday, August 29, 2008

Living in Florence :: My grandmother's hometown: Craco

We spent the night in Matera and visited the Sassi di Matera in the early morning. We headed down the winding roads to Craco where my nonna (grandmother) was born. As we drove up to see the abandoned town of Craco, which is shown in the picture, I burst out crying. I had never met my nonna and yet suddenly felt close to her.

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Thursday, August 28, 2008

Living in Florence :: My grandfather's hometown: Orchi

Ever since I moved to Italy one of my biggest dreams has been to go to visit the two paesini (towns) where my nonni (grandparents) were born. Both of my father's parents were born in Italy, but grew up and met in New York. I never met them, but I have always wanted to see where they came from. And now that I live in Italy, I feel the pull to know more about them and to visit the paesino in Italy where they came from.

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Tuesday, August 26, 2008

The new website I've been working on over the past few months has finally come to fruition. Florence from the Heart publishes articles, photos and videos from locals who want to share their experiences of life in Florence.

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Saturday, August 23, 2008

My friend Erin moved to San Niccolò not long ago and after meeting at at Il Rifrullo to have a caffè (coffee) this morning, I took her to visit Giardino Bardini. I wanted to introduce her to the giardino as she lives so close to it now, and it was also another excuse for me to return. It was a little cloudy when we got there, but the sun quickly began to shine brightly on us.

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